Surfing is a great way to spend a vacation. If you will be visiting Australia soon or live in the area, you can bet that all of the locals know the best places to surf. However, it’s no secret that some of the best beaches to catch a few waves are located right along Australia’s beautiful coastline, and they’re not hidden. There are always cheap international flights to Australia year round so it’s no excuse not to go. Here are five of the best beaches for surfing in Australia.

1. Serving as the home for the famous surf companies like Quicksilver, Rip Curl and Billabong, Australia is know for its killer waves and stunning beaches. Also the home of many surfing champions, it’s no wonder that they take pride in their surfing culture. North Narabeen is a great beach to visit with plenty of fantastic waves – and scenery. There is a run-off from the Narabeen Lake that helps to form a sandbar along the coastline, providing a perfect setting for the waves to roll in sets. Offshore, the water is deeper. This allows the waves to break with more power than on any other spot in the peninsula.

2. Tamarama is another famous beach spot to surf. Known sometimes as ‘Glamour-ama’, due to the large number of models who sunbathe on the skinniest sandbar, it’s both iconic for its beauty and its big waves. However, this beach is also the most dangerous patrolled beach in Australia, pulling in more rescues than any other shoreline.

Committed surfers must be skilled to brave the mammoth, 10 to 15 foot wave that crashes onto the surf, here. This grand Sydney, South Wales, spectacle is not be missed.

3. Bells Beach in Torquay, Victoria is the original home of Australian surfing. It is also home to the world’s oldest and most prestigious surfing event, now called the Rip Curl Pro. The winner receives a clanging bell for a trophy, a tradition that has never been broken. The waves swell over a shallow reef, producing amazing waves that can rise to 15 feet or higher. Their waves are famous for their consistency.

4. Yallingup is located in Western Australia. It marks the edge of the Margaret River region, famous for its wine-tasting connoisseurs and its steady number of wave-heads. Yallingup is oftentimes the best basic surfing spot in Australia, merely because of the variety of waves. It’s also famous for its three different sets of waves, known as the “Three Bears,” or “Mama, Papa, and Baby Bear.”

5. Eaglehawk Neck sits in Southeast Tasmania, a place famous for its history in the world of convicts. The Saint Arthur Colony had a narrow sandbar that prisoners had to trek across if they wished to escape the Penal Colony. To do so was to risk one’s life, and hence the legend and mystery of the location has never truly receded. The waves swell into the shore from the Tasman Sea, into Pirate’s Bay in long sets. The water is cold, but extremely fresh and clean. There’s also lots of wildlife to be seen.